Powerpedia

Another iMac

So I should never talk about technology and say one thing and then a few months later totally change my tune. I know, I am bad. I say that after ranting about the all in one computer form factor. I had a love hate relationship with my 24" iMac. I was happy and sad to see it go. I like laptop's much better. I really do. Of course that doesn't explain why today I went out and bought a 27" iMac. And not just a regular 27" iMac, I got the Quad Core i5 model. I figured the even more money for the i7 was overkill. Well the i7 was overkill or I didn't want to wait for the special order for that. I will just keep telling myself that it was overkill.

So why after being mad at the all in ones, would I go and get another one? Well that is an interesting story. In December I finally after 2 years of pondering it, I went out and bought a 30" LCD monitor. See my reasons for not getting one sooner in my "Monitor Upgrades & Monitor Arm Number 2" post, so I wont have to go back into that again. After all that I wanted the dam iMac again because even though the 30" display was fantastic, it wasn't fantastic with my Macbook Pro. The image was just crap. The stupid Apple Dual Link DVI to Display Port adapter that everyone bashes does suck as bad as everyone says. I don't know why. And it isn't all the time. I used the same adapter on my Mac Mini and it seemed to work better. The monitor worked fantastic on a non mac machine, but guess what all I have are Mac's.

So why did I change my mind? Figuring out what my tax return would be on Thursday was what started my thoughts. Originally I wanted a Mac Pro. I figured I would splurge and plug it into my fancy new monitor. Then I saw the cost of the single processor model. Holly crap that is expensive. The similar quad core iMac was like $500 cheaper. I then thought about out how much i could get for reselling my 30" monitor and the iMac is half paid for, plus i am getting a slightly smaller screen and almost as powerful a system. Lets face it I don't "need" a Mac Pro, I wanted it to drive the monitor I had. In the end this was a cheaper and smarter decision. My desk is also thankful for the extra room.

In the short term I am still going to hold onto the Macbook Pro because I do use it out of the house, but that is also soon to go the way of ebay once I get an iPad or something else small.

Now I can't promise that in 6 months I wont be fed up with the all in one again. But for now I think it was a smart move. To show how much I think this was a good idea, I can say I even bought the Apple Care for this thing. I almost never do that since I usually only keep a computer for a year!

Next thing I need to do is figure out how to get the VESA mount on this new computer so I can use my monitor arm again. Thanks again Apple for making a standard like VESA so hard to setup. If the reviews of this mount are any indication I am going to be not happy when I try to mount it.

Apple, iMac, macbook pro

Took Monday Off

Since I worked all day last Saturday I decided to take today off and relax. I had some shopping I wanted to do, get a haircut, etc. Just typical weekend routine stuff. It was good to just not have to goto work.

New Years

For new years I made plans to goto Jayson & Gretchen's for the night. Originally we had thought about going to a restaurant near them and get a group of people together. The group didn't materialize so I went anyway. We had a lower key night. We bought steaks and cooked and stayed in. Dave also came over, but I don't know what is wrong with him. He is always such a buzkill and needs to control his emotions. Other than Dave being a bit crazy we had a good time. I stayed over and we went for breakfast and then I headed back to the city in the afternoon.

Other items of note on this trip was I ended up breaking down and buying a pair of boots. I had needed after all the snow, but opted for the less water proof ones and went with the more comfortable ones. I got a pair of Doc Martin boots that feel really comfy. My mom said I can do something to them to water proof them a bit. They are still a step up from the shoes I wear when it snows!

The New Monitor

Friday my new HP 30" monitor arrived. It is pretty huge! I am glad I thought it through and ordered the quick release mounting bracket or else I don't know how I would have screwed in that monitor on the LCD arm. Removing the base and putting on the mounting brackets were relatively simple. Getting the monitor onto the arm took 2 try's since I had trouble visualizing how it connected. In the end I needed more time working on the cable management than I did on mounting the LCD.

So far the Mini DisplayPort to Dual Link DVI adapter from Apple is working ok. I can see some slight "shaking" of windows near the edges, but only of certain colors. I barely notice it so I am not worried about that. What I don't like is every so often when I wake the display from sleep it displays garbage squiggly lines on the display and I have to unplug the adapter and plug it back in. When I do that everything resets back to normal. Thankfully it has only happened a two or three times in two days. I may just have the monitor stay awake all the time but goto screen saver. I know that isn't the best thing to do but I will give it some time to figure out what my plans are. I am just thankful that so far (knock on wood) the entire setup is working. I want to take photos of the entire setup after I clean up all the clutter, but that is for another day!

Sunday Shopping

Today I didn't listen to my better judgement and I went into Manhattan for some shopping. It is a big shopping weekend so I typically like to avoid the crazy crowds. I do have some stuff I need to get before my vacation so I decided to head out anyway. I first hit Macy's to check out some luggage accessories. I need a few items before my trip. That Macy's was a bust. I then headed over to see if my hair cut place was open for a quick cut. It was closed on Sunday.

I then headed to Paragon Sports looking for a computer bag. After much research this week I decided to look at a Timbuk2 Commute 2.0 Messanger bag a try. I really like my Tumi Messenger bag, but it is just too small to carry much more than my laptop and a few items. When traveling, or just going on day trips to the office in NJ I need to carry more stuff. The Tumi just wasn't cutting it. My Swiss Army bag was big enough but just was too bulky and looked like a monstrous book bag. I heard good things about Timbuk2 before, and while checking out reviews I stumbled upon their site. Their messenger bags looked just as nice as the Swiss Army and Tumi ones I was checking out, and they were 1/3 the price of the Tumi ones. That is the thing with Tumi. I love my bag, and got it on sale and it was still $200. The slightly larger version of the same bag that probibly would have been perfect for me was $300. That is a lot for a bag. The Timbuk2 bag I settled on was less than $100.

So back to Paragon. They ended up having what I wanted but not in the right color. I then headed over to Tekserve who was supposed to carry the brand I was looking for. In the end they did have exactly what I wanted in the color I wanted so I picked one up. Saved me ordering online. I then hit up Best Buy since I am looking for a new monitor. That was a bust too. I then grabbed some Outback to go and headed home.

Swiss Army, Timbuk, Tumi

Stuffed Gifts

While waiting to goto Joe & Karen's wedding Jayson and I stopped by FAO. I ended up buying a Whatnot for Seth. I wanted to get one for Alexis but my sister wouldn't let me. Gretchen and Jayson didn't put any restrictions on me so I got one for their little guy. For Alexis I found a big dog online that I liked. Carrie also liked it and then Morgan picked out the exact model we wanted for Alexis. Apparently it isn't as plush as the ones from FAO I got the other kids but it was still a good stuffed animal.

The Weekend Went By So Fast

This was a totally lazy weekend, even by my standards. It was partially unintentional. I got a head ache in the early afternoon yesterday, and it didn't go away the rest of the day. Thankfully it didn't get really bad, but it was bad enough to curtail any evening plans I had.

Today was not much better. I did a bunch of shopping online for things I have been procrastinating buying. It was mainly replacing some clothes that I have that are getting ratty. I also did my laundry and cleaned up my apartment a bit. I waited for a Fresh Direct Delivery in the afternoon. Dined on fresh Sword Fish in the evening. I gotta love fresh stuff from Fresh Direct. I also decided to try and finish a book I started over a year ago. Not sure why I stopped reading Pattern Recognition because it was good, but I have about 1/3 left to go.

Now it is getting late and I don't know where the weekend went. Oh well. I am off to read another chapter or two before bed.

Dodging Rain

I worked from home today. The day could have gone either way. I could have had a few meetings (that was what my schedule said) so I could get some backlogged work done, or things would come up throughout the day that would distract me from what I was aiming to do. The latter happened as I expected but hoped wouldn't. I didn't even realize what time it was when I called it a day and aimed to meet up with friends.

I headed into the city to meet up with some friends at Blaggards. Turned out no one showed up. Stanley texted me saying he was taking off sine no one else showed up. I was in the subway so I didn't see it until I got there. Everyone was last minute cancelations, except Luke who I hadn't heard from. Since I was already in the area I went to Macy's and did some shopping. From there I headed over to the Apple Store on 5th ave.

As I got out of the subway by the Apple Store I started raining. It looked like a major thunder storm was coming in. I ran to the store just in time. I bought a iPod Nano 8GB (silver if you are curious) and an arm band to use it when exercising. Yes, I bought a new nano so I could actually try to do that exercise thing people keep talking about. It is kind of redundant to have since I have an iPhone and a 160gb iPod but each device has its own uses. The 160gb pod is currently being used as a portable hard drive and like the phone is to big for use when working out.

Before buying the pod, I browsed around to kill time while it rained. By the time I got out of the store it was raining a bit but not as bad as it was. The sky was really dark for just after 6 on a Summer afternoon. I got home and it was still only raining a bit but it looked like it was going to pour again anytime. I got really lucky getting home without an umbrella. At one point in my trek home I could have bought one (those guys selling umbrella's know exactly where to position themselves) but I rolled the dice and made it home only slightly damp.

I ordered in and just watched some shows I had on my Tivo. I wasn't in the mood to head back out.

Uncle x3

Yesterday I became an uncle again. This is my sisters 3rd. Alexis Zoe. I love the name! My sister and baby are doing great. I am not sure when I will get to see either of them. It is always hard to get to South Jersey. I am aiming for sometime next week.

I didn't get to write about the new baby yesterday since I spent last night at my parents house. I had to goto the eye doctor for a checkup. Besides my eyes being really dry I am in good shape. My prescription hasn't changed. It is now like 5 or 6 years since the last time I have changed it. According to my doctor at my age that is a great sign.

My parents were at my sisters during the day to take care of the other two kids while my brother in law and sister were in the hospital. I ended up taking the LIRR to their place and took a cab from the train station. Since they weren't going to be home for dinner I walked to the outback down the block. I had lobster tails! They were yummy. I then went and got the customary present I have gotten for Morgan & Zachary. Thats a long story for another time. I now need to find the other present I get the kids, but unfortunately FAO does not sell the size stuffed dog I want to buy. They only have the small one, and the super big one that I don't know who buys. The middle sized one that is actually really big is not for sale anymore. I am upset. I got Morgan that sized elephant, and Zachary the boy dog of the same size. I need to spend some time over the weekend finding something else. Gretchen is having a kid at the end of the week (or anytime at this point) so I need to find something for that little guy as well.

Update: photo now added of the new little one resting.

iPhone 3GS Conundrum Update

I am pleasantly surprised to get an email today that my iPhone 3GS has shipped. ETA for me to get it is tomorrow, just like Apple originally said. I say pleasantly surprised because in the past (not apple per say but in general) when an automated system says something and you are told something else the automated system is generally correct.

I typically work from home on Friday's but tomorrow I am off to NJ with some business folks who have never met most of my team. I hope to be home in the late afternoon to finish off the day.

Hopefully tomorrow nights photos will be from the new 3 megapixel camera!